1. Highlight your text/list.
2. Select Format/Table/Convert Text to Table from the main menu.
3. Then on the Inspector, select the Table tab, then on the Edit Rows and Columns menu bar, select Sort Ascending or Sort Descending.
4. Finally, select Format/Table/Convert Table to Text from the main menu.

E-readers, devices that solely present the contents of a book to the viewer, offer new reading enhancements like increased convenience, portability, and features like increasing the text size that make it easier for many people to read. Russ Grandinetti, vice president for Kindle content at Amazon, said one reason that the original Kindle, launched in 2007 for $399, was not a multipurpose device was so that readers could focus on their reading without interruption.

Tablets have features that offer more potential interruptions to the reading experience. On the low-end, the new Kindle Fire costs just $199 and features a variety of media options including email, the Internet, and video. On the high-end Apple’s iPad adds a brilliant hi-resolution screen and fancy page turning effects. Tablets also feature engaging multi-media features like the ability to embed video, audio, photo galleries, and interactive charts and graphs.

These devices add more options for our attention to the once simple experience of reading. And the increased competition for our attention places a burden upon producers of reading content to capture and hold our attention away from the call of common Internet activities like reading email, browsing the web, or watching a movie.

Some publishers believe the market for both print books and black-and-white e-readers is not going away, as long as e-readers continue to cost significantly less than tablets. But analysts, citing historical trends, assume it more likely that tablets will eventually displace black-and-white e-readers. I believe a niche market for focused reading devices will emerge that leverages the best screens and immersive digital media features to deliver a more compelling reading experience. The possibilities are endless. I imagine the integration of text and video content in awesome new ways sometime in the future. And, I predict, the market will make room for these unforeseen and innovative niche products just like it did for the iPad and all its clones.

What is happening is that more books are being bought, more are being left unfinished, and readers are becoming more discriminate in their reading selections. I personally appreciate reading a printed book. But I am also aware that this preference is completely colored by my own experience growing up reading printed content. Digital readers are here, and the reading experience will continue to evolve. Among the greatest impacts these new reading technologies will have on readers is the establishment, in each of us, of new and more focused reading preferences that deliver the value we require for the use of our precious time and attention. This kind of meditative focus may very well offer other benefits as well.

The concerns are valid, and addressing them always requires detailed and thoughtful implementation strategies. But a new day has come and open-source has arrived. There are now mature open-source solutions for leading enterprise technology and communications requirements including file management, communications, email, CRM, web sites, content and asset management, systems integration and more.

For example I have promoted Drupal as a web site content management solution for 3 years, and on October 24 the whitehouse.gov web site was relaunched on Drupal completing a transition from running on proprietary software to becoming another open-source site. This marks an acceptance that open-source does not pose additional risks compared to proprietary solutions, enables rapid implementation, and offers freedom and flexibility in integrating new technologies for future expansion. There are also many examples of corporate open-source success with leading solutions like Sugar CRM and the Alfresco enterprise content management system.

This is a terrific time where organizations large and small have viable cutting edge open-source options for advanced technology solutions that provide significant cost benefits while delivering unprecedented flexibility. Consider an open-souce solution for your next technology initiative.